[AU] Stone Bones

Occasionally I'm going to use spoiler tags for information that only one character knows, and also for languages that not everyone knows. If you see a big blank spot where you think there should be text, go to the end of the post and read the [OOC] for more information. Only highlight the spoiler text if I tell you to, you know the language, etc. If you wish to say something in another language, put [language]words in spoiler tags[/language], and only the characters that know that language should highlight it.

Please put actions between *asterisks*, thoughts in italics, and speech in "quotes." Use of colored text is optional, but just please make sure it's light enough to see.

*You've had this dream before. It came, for the first time, when you were underground. But ever since then, you've had the same dream. Sometimes you'll have it three nights in a row. Sometimes not for a couple weeks. But it's never away for long.*

*First you see walls of earth and stone, a long, endless tunnel piercing the earth, along with a veritable labyrinth of passages that extend far below the surface. You go through them, seeing strange plants and growths, odd animals, and entire villages that never see the light of the sun.*

*You feel a deep hum within the marrow of your bones, and from deep within the earth, echoing along that endless passage, a terribly magnificent voice speaks, the sounds rumbling like stones.*

"The bones of the earth are stone. All returns to stone, and the bones last longest of all."

*Darthallys the Razor Tongued is having a good night. The fifth tankard of ale has gone down better even than the other four. The knucklebones are falling in his favor, and a pretty human tavern wench has been hanging off of him the whole night. Atlas went out earlier tonight to look for a quiet place to meditate, but he's not too far away. You expect him back in an hour or two, as it is nearly midnight. Wil has been singing progressively more ribald and humorous drinking songs all night. While he has no wench hanging off him, his witty conversation has gotten him more than one mug of free ale tonight.*

*Leesea watches Trent for a few more minutes, then the two lovers put out the light, denying her any further view of her target. Sighing, she decides to call it a night and flies down from the tree.*

*Kelthet's search for a vision has been elusive this day, but as midnight nears he seems to be getting an inkling...*

*Phaern's day began with a funeral and has ended with the successful docking of his boat in Ka-Rone. Saddened, he nevertheless accepted his pay and managed to find a place to stay. To honor his friend he has been telling the tale of the great battle in which Thom lost his life. Sympathetic sailors listen to your well-told tell, and one of them buys you a round of a good strong ale.*

*Atlas left the Fountain of Beer tavern where Darthallys and he had been staying in the hopes of finding a quiet place in the city to do a bit of thinking and meditating. He found a quiet chapel devoted to a giant ancestor known for her devout protection of this town, Ra-toqu. Unfortunately your contemplation was ruined by some commotion outside.*

*Running to the source of the disturbance, you found a young giant woman in the clutches of what appeared to be a human man. He was beating her senseless. You advanced, and told him to stop, only to realize that the man's eyes were flat and dead, and his flesh beginning to rot. He was some kind of zombie, and his presence could not be tolerated.*

*You drew your sword and were able to wrench the girl out of the undead's arms. The thing retaliated with punishing hard punches, but your swordwork kept it mostly at bay. It took a mighty effort, but you were able to lop off the head of the unclean thing. The girl was hysterical, but you were able to calm her somewhat. She said she had been in the small graveyard next to the temple, making a small midnight offering on an ancestor's grave, when the zombie had grabbed her from behind. She managed to get to the street, but he had caught her. Your timely arrival saved her from probably joining the thing in undeath.*

*Atlas, you're quite concerned that an undead could appear suddenly in the middle of a town.*

*In a burst of darkness, rather than light, a vision seizes each of you. All your senses seem to be turned inward, and you can no longer hear, feel, or see your surroundings. You are startled when you recognize your stone dream, then feel a deep rush of emotion inside you. It's unnerving, your dream has never done this to you before. Then again your dream has never come to you when you've been awake before.*

*Again you see the strange sites of the world underground. Again you see the sunless cities. You feel a deep sense of urgency, and an odd sense of belonging or homecoming. Again you hear the deep, rumbling voice, but it speaks of different things this time.*

"The bones of the earth are stone. All returns to stone, and the bones last longest of all. Return, find the bones of the earth. Return the bones of the earth to their place. Return to the earth, all, return to the earth!" The last seems to come in a roar like that of a mighty avalanche. You see the entrance of a cave, or maybe catacombs, seem to be flying down a dizzying long passage, until you reach a staggeringly large cavern. It seems to be held up by many massive stone pillars, but some seem to be riven, and others have shattered.

*As the vision plunges into blackness again, you see flashes of faces, acquaintances for some, friends for others. A giant man who follows the cause of life, a sibeccai skilled in both blade and spell, a spryte women who has a mastery of memory, a human man who fights with a sword augmented by inborn magic, a spryte man who follows the path of the staff, and a human man who is skilled in the arts of runes.*

*Again the voice thunders, "Return to the earth!" as your vision clears. You find yourself on the floor or ground as the case may be, some with people standing over you, looking concerned.*

*I wake up in the middle of the night profusely sweating.*That damn nightmare again. Ever since the night that we found those Shurg tracks. What does it mean? Who is invading my dreams? What does it want? Either leave me alone or give me more than riddles.
*It takes a while but Wil eventually has a peaceful dreamless rest.*

Phaern Starspike, Spryte Magister 5

Phaern's eyes blank out whilst in the middle of his tale about Thom's bravery. Moments later he seems to focus again, apparently he has fallen from his perch above the table. Sailors are standing over him and the barkeep is there snapping his fingers in front of his face. Phaern shakes his head to clear it, "Woh, been at sea to long I guess. Now where was I..." he says. He continues his story though it is obvious that he is a little distracted. The barkeep gets him a cup of coffee whispering that perhaps he better sober up a bit. Phaern retires at the end of the story. He asks the barkeep for a room and slowly makes his way up to it. The booming voice rings in his head over and over as he opens the door to his room. Unable to sleep right away, he runs through the waking dream again trying to commit it to memory. Something this insistent is hardly just a dream.

A murmur of voices, distant and varied. 'Is he dead?' 'Stone drunk more likely.' 'Loud mouthed lout, we ought to roll him.' 'I wouldn't. He was with that Giant in the Dragonscale.'

Darthallys' supine form writhes a bit, a slight whimper slipping from clenched teeth. 'Something's wrong with him.' 'He's just drunk himself into a nightmare.'

Consciousness begins travelling slowerly toward Darthallys, sliding through a morass of alcoholic fumes. Hearing comes first, his large ears picking up the whispers of those about him. He even hears the sloshing as the bucket is brought closer.

Camilla, the fiesty barmaid who'd been by his side most of the night gives warning, "This one is not a simple drunk, Drena. There's a darkness in him you don't want to rile."

"What do I have to fear from some drunken mongrel?" Drena empties the water bucket onto the partially conscious man.

He could not have expected what happened next. With a ferocious roar worthy of a Litorian war chief, Darthallys flies off the floor, rushing the stocky human, eyes wild and mad. Grabbing the barman by the tunic, Darthallys rams the larger man into the bar, snarling fangs snapping at the shocked human's face. "I've killed better men than you for less," growls the enraged Sibeccai, breath ripe with fermented honey.

The barman, of larger build and no stranger to brawls, couldn't bring himself to throw off the Sibeccai. He found his courage fleeing before the sheer naked malice gleaming in Darthallys' eyes.

As Darthallys reached back for his blade to 'properly' educate the errant barman, he felt a trembling hand alight on his arm. "Please," pleaded Camilla, her face pale at the Sibeccai's rage. "He has children."

Indesicion raced across Darthallys' face as he took in Camilla's plea. Looking back to the barman, "A year ago, I'd have made certain you'd have no chance to taint your children with your ignorance, Human." He releases the barman and spins away, heading toward the stairs, "I need a warm bath and someone to take a message to the ugly, tattoed human named Wil. I've need of his wisdom."

Darthallys' noble retreat is marred somewhat by a drunken stumble as he reachs the stairs. Not looking around, he takes the bannister and carefully begins to ascend with a drunken grace seen in the most dedicated of drinkers.

Leesea flies out of the tree and away from the estate of her most recent target. In the back of her mind, she is already organizing the presentation of her findings for her report to the Armorsmiths' Guild due by midday tomorrow.

She flies along the streets, though well above the mundane foot traffic. She can scarcely recall the experience of having been land-bound once, though it was really not all that long ago that she made the transformation to spryte. Glowglobes and oil lanterns cast occasional pools of light, a network of reference points leading her back to her apartment.

In one of the nicer neighborhoods, Leesea had managed to find accomodations suitable to her needs and her size. She talked the owner of a multi-resident building catering to academics into renting her an unused storage room on the third floor. It had a window and a locking door, and was plenty large enough for her to fit in comfortably.

Flying up to the window, she slips the latch open with a piece of stiff wire used expressly for that purpose and lets herself in. Just as she's about to close the window, the vision hits her.

Leesea doesn't know how long the vision lasted. Minutes, perhaps? Trembling slightly, she picks herself off the floor and lets the cool night air wash over her sweating face. She spends a minute using a simple akashic technique to lock every minutia of detail from the vision into her memory and then closes the window.

That was no dream, she thinks to herself as she prepares for bed. Dreams come in sleep, and this was clearly a waking event. Magic, perhaps? Or has something in the akashic memory imposed itself upon me? Always the vision shows something underground...a city. Could this be a link to the Grythsm Focus that I seek? Has some property of the Focus started seeking me out just as I seek it?

Realizing that her train of thought is wandering, Leesea deliberately shuts her mind down and curls up in her tiny bed. In the morning, she will ponder the vision again...more clearly. Perhaps she will delve into the akashic memory for clues. As she drifts off to sleep, the images of her acquaintances from the vision slip through her mind. Why them?

Kelthet awakens on the floor of the cave, a small rock imbedded in his arm. He pries it out painfully, but he is smiling. He has known that the dream was prophetic from the frequency and the events, but he hadn't been able to figure the meaning. With this recent revelation, things were becoming much clearer. There was something wrong with the earth, with the Bones of the Earth (and isn't Iron the earth's bones as well?), and he has been tasked with setting it right. Such a task promised him adventure and chances to increase his skill.

He remembered the people in his vision - many of them he has seen recently. He wasn't sure how exactly to contact them, but it is clear that he will be guided correctly - the visions have shown him such.

Gathering up his possessions from the cave floor, Kelthet rose, stretched, and sang his Armor Song. This clearly wasn't going to be easy, and he wanted to be prepared. He walked out into the dimness of the night, glad for the cover of darkness. He heads into the town of Ka-Rone, certain that he will find those he needs in the city. He allows his feet to guide him to the proper inn or tavern to find them - at least one of them is very fond of drink. He trusts in the vision and his task to lead him to the proper place.

Atlas wakes from his daze and is confronted by the frightened lass. "Are you alright sir, did he get you after all?" Atlas clears his head and replies to the woman "no, this is another problem, have no further concern". I am concerned with the incursion, but I have conflicting obligations. "Wait here a moment lass", *he goes and investigates the graveyard* to see if more are immediately present. If the graveyard is free, *he escorts the woman home.*

*He then returns to his father's estate and meditates upon the to problems.* I will investigate the graveyard again in the light of day, and later will find my Sebbicai friend and see if he can shed any light on the matter.

*Wil, in the middle of your finally dreamless rest, you are interrupted by a knock on the door. Finally dragging yourself awake, the echo of the avalanche voice still occasionally sounding in your head, you're greeted by Camilla, the barmaid that had been with Darthallys all night.*

"My pardon, but Darthallys wanted to see you. He should be just done with his bath now, so he should be right outside the bathhouse," she says, looking just a tad scared and worried.

*Darthallys, you're able to get the bathhouse all to yourself, not too surprisingly. The warm water does help somewhat with your tension, but not even a soak can entirely drive away the memory of the vision. Camilla goes to deliver the message to Wil when you're close to finished, and said she'd send him to the bathhouse... and try to keep everyone else away so you would have privacy to talk.*

*Leesea, you delve deep into the akashic memory and come up only slightly enlightned. [spoiler]The "Bones of the Earth" is an old legend, more a creation myth told by some humans. It tells that the bones of the earth hold the land up, and if they should ever fall, great disaster will befall all living things.[/spoiler]*

*Phaern, your knowledge of ceremony gives you some insight into this strange vision. [spoiler]You've seen others go through the Ceremony of the Earth Mage [Elemental Mage: Earth], and one of the phrases used in the end of the ceremony is "As long as the bones of the earth stand, let you power linger."[/spoiler] Unfortunetly, your revelation is somewhat marred by a knocking at your door.*

*Kelthet, with a bit of nosing around, you find out that the Portis, the ship that Phaern said he would be on for several months, just docked yesterday. A bit more searching, and you find yourself at the Rat's Breath tavern and inn, a favorite of sailors. A few silver gets you pointed in the direction of Phaern's small (for a human) room. You knock to let yourself be known.*

*Atlas, the graveyard is free of further roving undead, and your trip back to the girl's home is uneventful. The girl's father is extremely grateful for saving his daughter's life, and invites you in for food and drink. The girl's name is Ui-Kasora, and her father, Vi-Herras, is a guildmaster of the local stonemason's guild. He offers you the hospitality of his home for the night, and offers you a future claim on him for whatever he can provide. He feels deeply obligated to pay the lifedebt to you, as he nearly failed in his father's duty to protect his daughter. He had never had a qualm about letting her walk around Ra-toqu even at late hours of night before, but no more.*

[OOC: We're kind of living in the future and the past simultaneously here. Atlas, Wil, and Darthallys are all currently still opperating late at night/early in the morning, while Kelthet, Phaern, and Leesea are all now in the following morning. Hopefully the first three will catch up with the time stream soon. Now, only Leesea and Phaern can highlight the information in their paragraphs. If you quote this post, you can see the information, so please be careful.]

*Despite being a mystical warrior, Darthallys seems a bit concerned by the vision he's witnessed, withnessed by the way he paces the floor of the bathhouse. He's well groomed, having already tended to his wet fur, as much out of habit as anything else. The barman's slight is already forgotten, lost amoung the multitude of other tidbits of experience Darthallys has little need for.*

Wil, myself, and Atlas I recognize. The others are strangers...and for what purpose are we being brought together. It's undeniable that some fiend is mucking about in my dreams, but why?

*In the middle of his frustrated pacing, Darthallys suddenly pauses before the mirror, head cocking to the side.* Well, hello there, you handsome devil. *He bares his fangs in a self satisfied smile and thinks to himself.* You clean up well. Now, calm down. Wil, for all his faults, knows things and will be able to explain this to you so you and Atlas can come out on top. Stop worrying. It'll turn out alright.

*Darthallys leans back against a nearby wall, towel wrapped around his waist as he awaits Wil's arrival. When and if the human arrives he greets him with a simple,* "My apologies for the abrupt awakening, but you've invaded my dreams. I was hoping for an explanation, and you've always been good at talking."